


Far More than Seven Minutes in Heaven

by paperjamBipper



Category: We Bare Bears (TV)
Genre: Collaboration, Fluff, Happy Ending, Love Confessions, M/M, Mutual Pining, Seven Minutes In Heaven
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-17
Updated: 2019-03-17
Packaged: 2019-11-23 07:11:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,039
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18148742
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/paperjamBipper/pseuds/paperjamBipper
Summary: “You’re something special, you know that?”“Oh, stop it” Panda mumbles, glad that it’s dark enough in the closet that Charlie can’t see him blushing. “You, uh, you too. You’re also special”“You think so?” Charlie asks, turning to him. “Thank you! Means a lot hearing that from you”~~~~Panda has the whole day to tell Charlie how he feels, and he's still too shy to say a word.or,Grizz decides to take his role as helpful older brother seriously and decides to help push Panda in the right direction. Literally.





	Far More than Seven Minutes in Heaven

**Author's Note:**

> collaborated with @goosieboosie on Tumblr! Enjoy!

_It’s another beautiful day at Sakura High. Students file in and out of buildings around campus in scattered crowds. Some, the honor students and the nerds, are hurrying to get to their next class. Others, like the jocks, and the cool kids, are taking their time. They’re sitting under the sakura trees that gave the school their namesakes, chatting with friends, and for those lucky enough to have them, flirting and kissing their partner._

_We see Panda, hurrying along to his next class with his friend, Miki-Chan. He’s not exactly fond of his next class, but if he doesn’t run he’ll be late to class and teacher will make him sit in the back. His eyes are already poor enough as is with the big rounded glasses his mother makes him wear to school every day._

_“Did you hear the news?” Miki-Chan asks suddenly, and it’s surprising that she’s not out of breath because she’s running at the same pace he is. “The principal announced a dance to commemorate the end of the school year! Everyone’s bringing a date. Are you going?”_

_He blushes. He’s never been much of a dancer. Plus, he’s a junior now. If anyone in his class wanted to go out with him, they’d have asked by now. “I don’t know” he rubs at the back of his head in embarrassment. “I’d love to go, but I don’t know anyone who’d say yes to a goofball like me”._

_Miki-Chan smirks, like she knows something he doesn’t. “Haven’t you heard?”_

_Panda comes to an abrupt stop. “Heard what?”_

_Miki-Chan giggles. “The new kid! They’re crushing super hard on you! They’re going to ask you to the dance after class!”_

_“What? Really?” Panda brings his paws to his face as a bright red blush engulfs his entire face. “The mysterious one? I thought they didn’t like anybody!”_

_“Anybody but yooou~” she singsongs as the school bell rings. “Good luck!” She winks, and skips off to her own class._

_He can barely focus. Throughout the entire lesson, Panda can’t keep his eyes off the window, lost in thought about how the new kid is going to ask him out. There’s so many ways they could do it. They could pull a promposal, even though the dance isn’t technically a prom, or he could be slipped a letter, or sent on a scavenger hunt, or-_

_The bell rings, signifying the end of class, and Panda stands, sighing deeply. He sees the other students around him whispering. Do they know? Are they a part of the proposal? Trying his best to act cool, he ruffles his school uniform up a bit and strides into the hall with his head held up high. He pushes his way out of the math building, and there, underneath the sakura tree, is the mysterious student, holding a large bouquet of hypoallergenic flowers._

_“Panda-san?” He asks, and turns around so his face is in view._

_“Ch-Charlie?” he half asks, half gasps._

_“That’s right” Charlie smirks, and a gust of wind blows a few cherry blossom petals past his face. Charlie gets down on one knee, and holds up the flower bouquet. “Will you do me the absolute pleasure of accompanying me to the formal dance as my date?”_

Panda jumps up in bed with a gasp, and there’s three things that be notices immediately.

The first being that Miki-Chan, or rather, the real one, is halfway across the floor lying face down. Which almost never happens.

The second is that the painting he did of Charlie in the same sparkly-eyed peace sign pose as Miki-Chan is leaning on the wall right across from his bed.

The third is that he’s still blushing. Hard. He touches a paw to his cheek, but he retracts it when he finds it’s still warm.

The fourth, that he’s just realizing now, is that he can’t stop staring at that painting of Charlie.

Oh no. Oh  _no no no no_ -

He tosses over on his other side and throws a blanket over his head. But that’s not much help either, because the first thing he sees when he turns over are the two gifts Charlie had given him the last time he was visiting the cave. A little doll of Panda, made with a pear and a black sharpie, and a picture hanging on the wall. It’s a drawing, made with mud and tree sap on a poster board he found at an abandoned campsite that Charlie drew of him. It’s no exact replica, but he insisted he pay Panda back for the incredible autographed painting he did of him.

And, well, it was an incredibly sweet gesture, considering—

There’s a knock on his bedroom door, and it startles Panda out his thoughts so abruptly he nearly calls to ask if it’s Charlie on the other side of the door.

“Bro?” Comes Grizz’s voice on the other side of the door. “You alright in there? I thought I heard you talking in your sleep”

Panda sends a glance back to the painting of Charlie across from his bed and his blush returns.

“Uhhh, nope, haha! I’m-I’m fine! I’m great! I’ll just be...out in a second” Panda says, and reaches to pick Miki-Chan up off of the floor. Instead of placing her on the bed in her normal resting spot, Panda instead places her besides the painting of Charlie. He’s about two steps from opening his bedroom door and joining Grizz and Ice in the kitchen, but then he stops when the painting catches his eye again. Blushing lightly, he pulls the purple blanket quilt off of his blanket and he lightly covers it over the painting, careful not to cause any damage to the piece.

When he joins his brothers in the kitchen, he’s surprised to find that instead of preparing coffee and breakfast, there’s a red and white table cloth spread out on the table and a picnic basket open at the center of the table. Ice Bear is at the stove, stirring a pot of soup. There are four thermoses next to him.

“Oh, there you are, Panda!” Grizz says, and claps an enthusiastic paw on Panda’s shoulder. “I was wondering when you were going to get up. I was afraid you were going to sleep right through the picnic!”

Panda blinks. “Picnic?”

“Yeah! Our picnic with Charlie, remember? He’s been so excited about it all week!”

“Ch-Charlie?” Panda stammers, and takes a step back. “Why now? Why today?”

Grizz tilts his head in confusion. “Uh, cause it was your idea?”

Panda blushes. “It was?”

“Yeah, remember? Last time he came over you were talking about how you felt bad he couldn’t come hang out with us in the city and you wanted to make up for it?” Grizz says, but frowns as Panda continues to back up towards his room. “Hey, bro, are you okay?”

Panda’s eyes widen. “What? Haha, of course I’m okay! I’m great! I’m not thinking about Charlie at all!”

“What? I just said we were hanging out with him today, are you sure you’re-“

“I’m FINE” Panda shouts as he runs back into his bedroom and slams the door closed. He crawls into bed and throws his comforter over his head.

 _Charlie._ It’s  _Charlie_.  _Why,_ he thinks.  _Of all people._ He turns his head over and looks at the messy mud-and-tree sap portrait on the wall and the pear-and sharpie doll on his dresser. He groans, and turns again, and looks at the collection of paintings he’d done of Charlie leaning against the other wall. He sits up, gripping his blanket, and he sees Miki-Chan and his purple quilt covering the painting of Charlie he’d done in the style of an anime as a joke.

Panda sighs and scrubs his paws down his still blushing face.  _Charlie._ Charlie’s just so loud, and messy, and unaware of the concept of personal space, and friendly, always so happy to see him, and  _kind, and sweet, and devoted, and-_

There’s another knock at his bedroom door.

“Panda? Are you sure everything’s okay?”

Panda groans. “Go away, Grizz”

There’s a soft thump as Panda can only assume Grizz rests his cheek against his brother’s door. “Come on, Pan-Pan. I know you and Charlie are close. Why don’t you want to see him all of a sudden?”

Panda buries himself even further under his blanket. “I said go away”

“Is it something he said? Are you two fighting about something?”

“Ice Bear will fight Charlie for hurting brother’s feelings” comes a second voice, seemingly out of nowhere. “Or at least ask him nicely to leave”.

“What? No, no, Charlie didn’t do anything wrong. We’re not fighting”

“C’mon, Panda, you were so happy to see him the other day. If you’re not fighting, why don’t you want to see him?”

Panda stares at his collection of paintings.  _Because he’s stupid and feelings are stupid, that’s why._

Panda sighs. “Promise not to laugh?”

“We’re your bros, Pan-Pan, we’d never laugh. Unless it’s like, super embarrassing. Then we’d have no choice but to.”

Panda laughs at that, and slowly stands up. Creeping over to his window to make sure Charlie isn’t showing up fashionably early, as always, he locks the window and closes the shades before opening his bedroom door just a crack. He gestures for Grizz and Ice to come in, carefully checking for Charlie on the couch or in the pantry.

“So what’s going on?” Grizz asks, nodding at the pillow and blanket simultaneously sprawled across the room and carefully placed as if to hide something. “Why can’t you see Charlie today? Why can’t you tell us why you can’t see Charlie?”

Panda twiddles with his paws. If he doesn’t just come out and say it, Grizz will find out by mistake, which would be a disaster, because as much as Panda loves him, Grizz can’t keep a secret if his life depended on it.

“I....I had a dream last night. About Sakura High, you know?”

Grizz doesn’t, based on the expression on his face, but he nods anyway.

“Miki-Chan and I were walking to class when she told me someone was going to ask me to the spring dance. This new kid who was crushing super hard on me. So I walked to the campus quad, and this kid comes up to me and hands me a bouquet of my favorite flowers” Panda’s blush returns. “And I can’t see Charlie today because of that, because, well-“

“Ah!” Grizz exclaims happily. “Was it Charlie? That’s so great! Do you like him?”

“What? No no no- well, I mean, yes! The new kid was Charlie! He was handing me flowers and there was a beautiful breeze and he was down on one knee, and there were CHERRY BLOSSOM, petals, Grizz! Cherry blossoms!”

“Woah, whoa, slow you roll there, brother. This is great! Ah! Panda and Charlie, my two best bros” Grizz grins, squinting his eyes closed happily.

“Ice Bear thinks Panlie would make great couple”

“Hah! Panlie! I love it. Perfect couple name for them.”

“Shhh, shh, it’s not like that! He can probably hear you!” Panda whispers, turning to close the window he forgot he’d already shut.

“Are you sure? You  _are_ blushing pretty hard” Grizz says, and walks to peak under the purple blanket. “And I thought you loved this painting of Charlie because it made you laugh”

“I do!” Panda exclaims. “Look, I really like Charlie. I do! We’re really good friends. I just don’t see him that way.”

“Oh yeah? Why’s that?” He smirks, like he knows exactly why he’s asking.

“Because! He’s so...so weird, and invasive, and nosy, and always right around the corner, and always willing to jump in and help me out even if it’s at his own expense, and he’s always laughing at my jokes with that stupidly adorable laugh of his, and that really bright happy smile, and-“

“Gotcha” Grizz jabs a paw in his direction.

“I....” Panda starts, but gives up and sits on his bed. “I don’t even know what I’d say. He’s so sweet, and kind, but he’s so goofy that he’ll probably think I’m telling a joke if I say anything”

“Are you kidding me? Are we even talking about the same Charlie? He’s obsessed with you, Panda, course he won’t think you’re joking. He’ll probably squeal so loud he’ll shatter glass, he’ll be that happy”.

“He-he is?”

“Ice Bear sees heart eyes when Charlie talks to Panda”

Grizz nudges Ice on the shoulder. “Even when he’s just talking  _about_ you. It’s “my best friend Panda” this and “Panda’s so cute when that”

Cute? Charlie called him cute? Panda blushes again, harder this time, and hides his face in his paws. His bed creaks as his brothers join him on his bed, taking to both sides of him.

“Hey, no need to sweat it, Panda. You’ve watched dozens of anime, right? You know how this goes. You just have to wait for the right moment, and then boom. Kiss kiss fall in love, and all that”

“Ice Bear gladly supports romantic endeavors.”

“Thanks, guys” Panda says, quickly throwing an arm around each brother. The moment doesn’t last, though, because as if on cue, there’s a clunking in the kitchen that signifies Charlie rummaging through their pantries for his jar of cheese poofies.

“Bears?” He calls. “Are ya home? I didn’t see you in the living room, and you didn’t answer when I knocked, but the door was unlocked, so I just let myself in. That okay?” He calls out. “Hello?”

“We’re fine, Charlie! We’re in here” Panda calls, and stands from his bed to brush himself off. He turns to look at Grizz and Ice, who simultaneously give him what they can of a thumbs up.

“Pan-Man!” Charlie exclaims as Panda steps out of his bedroom. As soon as he’s out of the doorway Panda’s swept off his feet, literally, as Charlie grabs him to hug him. “It’s so good to see you! You had me worried there for a moment that you forgot about our plans”. Charlie kisses him on the top of the head, very quickly, as he always does, but this time Panda doesn’t fight it. This time it feels....good.

“You ready to go, pumpkin?” Charlie asks, placing Panda carefully back down on the ground. “Where are your brothers? They ready?”

“Hey, Charlie!” Grizz greets him as he exits Panda’s room as well. “Good to see you too. But, uhh...” he pauses. “I hate to break it to you, but Ice and I can’t join you.”

“You can’t?” Charlie and Panda ask in perfect synchrony.

“Yeah. What a shame. I was just telling Ice I was so excited to go today, and then whaddya know, we both suddenly have emergencies we have to attend to instead.”

Ice Bear nods. “Chloe needs help finishing assignment due tomorrow morning”.

“Uh, yeah! We both promised we’d help her. I guess the due date was earlier than she thought”.

“Oh” Charlie says, scratching at his head, sounding disappointed. “Well that’s okay, I guess. We can reschedule for any time, I guess, since I never have any plans” he frowns, and begins to head back to the front door.

“But Panda’s free! Chloe did say she only needed one or two extra hands”.

Charlie stops dead in his tracks. “Really?” He beams. “Would you, Panda? Just the two of us?” He’s grinning from ear to ear, and Panda blushes, but then he groans in frustration.

“Can you give me a minute?” He asks, and Charlie sits on the couch and crosses his legs over each other to get comfortable. “Sure thing, buddy! Just let me know when you’re ready to go”

“Alright, haha, I will!” Panda responds frantically, shoving his brothers towards the kitchen, and Charlie gives him another quick grin before he disappears out of Panda’s eyesight and earshot.

“Guys!” He exclaims, lightly shoving at Grizz and Ice. “What are you doing? What emergency plan? What project does Chloe suddenly have due?”

“Panda, don’t you see it? A picnic in the forest clearing? Surrounded by beautiful trees and sunlight? It’s the perfect place to confess to him! Just like in the movies!” He’s practically bouncing up and down on his feet, he’s that excited for him. “The last thing you need is us two there. You should be thanking us for stepping out of your way.

“Ice Bear agrees. Panda’s better at professing love when Panda is by himself”

“I dunno, guys...what if-“

“I won’t hear it, little bro. Remember what we said? Charlie’s practically head over heels for you. He’ll love it even if you stutter every word of the confession.”

Panda can’t help but smile at that.

“See? There’s my boy” Grizz grabs his head to ruffle his fur up. “Now go get yourself a boyfriend!” He exclaims, slapping Panda on the back.

“Ice Bear will prepare smaller picnic for Panda and Charlie. Go wait with him”. Ice Bear gestures to the couch, where Charlie figured out how to turn the television on, and Panda takes a deep breath before he joins him.

“Hey, Pan-Pan!” Charlie grins, and scoots over to make room for him despite the couch already having plenty of room for both of them. “You ready? I’m glad it’ll be just the two of us, because I found a great spot the other day I wanted to show you”.

“You do?” Panda blushes as he sits beside Charlie, who puts an arm around his shoulder.

“Oh man, yeah! I don’t wanna spoil it though, so that can wait until we get there”.

Before Panda can ask any questions about this “amazing spot” of his, Ice comes out of the kitchen carrying two thermoses and a much smaller picnic basket.

“Ice Bear prepared lunch for your picnic” he says, and holds it out to both of them. Panda takes them both, and before either of his brothers can say anymore and give everything away, Panda grabs both thermoses and the basket in one hand and Charlie’s hand in the other. Charlie yelps in surprise at the gesture, but doesn’t object as Panda heads for the front door.

“Okay, see you later!” He calls, and just barely misses Grizz’s  _“Good luck!”_ as the door closes behind him.

“Alright,” Panda says, placing the two thermoses inside the basket and adjusting it on his shoulder. “Where is this great spot of yours?”

Charlie taps at his chin with his free hand, like he’s trying to remember how to get to there from the cave. “Well, remember my private lake?”

“Yeah,” Panda says, and scratches at his own chin. “Sorry again about what happened.

“Aww, water under the bridge, Pan-Pan. You were just excited. I would’ve been touched you loved my lake so much if I wasn’t so scared of people or cameras”

Panda smiles.

“Anyway, it’s all cleaned up now. The signs you guys made me are still up, though, so no one’s bothered me since. I found this place when I was cleaning up the rest of the debris when I found this forest path. Most beautiful view from the whole forest. I know you like taking pictures of things you find beautiful, and I trust you not to take any of me, so I thought it’d be nice to bring you over there”.

“That’s-” Panda blinks. “That’s incredibly sweet of you, Charlie, thank you.” He frowns slightly. “But what if people find this place too? I don’t want to make you give up some amazing place in the forest for me”.

“What’s mine is yours, Panda. Besides, it’s even more private than the private lake, so even if some human saw your picture they wouldn’t be able to reach it” He grins that adorable grin of his, and Panda finds himself smiling back. They continue walking along the forest floor in comfortable silence, a rarity with Charlie. They’re still holding hands, and Panda’s unsure if Charlie’s just unaware it’s happening or if he  _is_ aware and he’s not letting go because he likes it.

Panda’s unsure which option makes him blush harder.

It’s not long until they reach the lake and squeeze past all of the DANGER and KEEP out signs. Panda’s surprised to find that Charlie’s right about cleaning up. Any sign of human trace is gone, and he even managed to replace the tire swing, except now it’s a bike tire hanging from a vine instead of the standard car tire and rope.

Panda likes it. It gives the whole place a little Charlie-esque flair.

“Hah, remember this place?” Charlie asks, as if reading his mind. “Splashing around in the water, burying me in the sand. That was a ton of fun! I’d love to bring you back here sometime now that all those people are gone.”

And Panda’s not sure if Charlie’s  _you_ was referring to him and his brothers, or just him, but Panda smiles and returns the offer with a soft  _yeah, we should._

“So where’s this great new place?” Panda asks, breaking both the short pause of silence and his own thoughts.

“Oh! Yeah! This way!” Charlie exclaims, and breaks into a faster pace, gripping onto Panda’s paw tighter to keep him from falling behind.  _That answers my earlier question,_ Panda thinks, and even if he was kind of expecting that to be the answer he still finds a creeping blush anyway. Charlie takes him to a walking trail that looks like it hasn’t been used in years, as the entranceway is overgrown with bushes and thorns. There’s just enough room for him and Charlie to squeeze through without a scratch, and once they’re through Charlie guides him down a very specific path, like he’d been down here hundreds of times and like he’d been  _practicing_ guiding Panda down this path hundreds of times. Panda smiles, appreciating the sentiment, until Charlie comes to a sudden stop and Panda bumps into him.

“Whoops, sorry about that, dumpling” Charlie says, and brushes some dust off of Panda’s shoulders. “We’re here!” He shouts, throwing both arms in the air.

And it’s....not all that Charlie bragged it would be, but if dedicated this specific spot in the forest Panda’s not going to complain. He places the basket on the ground, and is about to sit, when-

“Woah, whoa, not there, silly!” Charlie laughs, and points upwards. Panda follows where he’s pointing, and gasps when he realizes Charlie’s pointing to a treetop.

“Charlie, wait, I-“ he starts, but before he can get  _I’m terrified of heights_ out Charlie scoops Panda up under his arm with an “  _ally-yoop”_ and the basket under his other and begins climbing the tree. “Charlie!” He shouts, and begins thrashing in Charlie’s arm. “Charlie, this isn’t funny!”

“Aww shucks, Pan-Pan. It’s perfectly safe. Plenty of sitting room, too. One of us might have to hold the basket to stop it from falling, but we shouldn’t have that problem”

The more Charlie climbs, the more Panda panics, and the more he panics, the more he clings to whatever’s closest. Which happens to be Charlie. The source of why he’s climbing this high up. He just keeps climbing, and climbing, and just when Panda’s about to give up and accept that Charlie’s bringing him all the way to the top, he stops, and places Panda down onto the branch as carefully as he can. Panda’s eyes are squeezed shut, so he can’t see him, but he can tell when Charlie sits down by the light shaking of the tree branch. If he’s right about one thing, it’s the sturdiness of the branch. Carefully, slowly, he sits down too, and wobbles just the slightest before catching himself and steadying his balance.

“See? What’d I tell you? Perfectly safe and secluded” Charlie says, and then a pause. He must’ve looked over at him, because the next thing Charlie says is “Aww, c’mon, Pan-Pan. You can open your eyes. I swear on....that...that pillow thing you got that you’re not going to fall”.

“Plus,” he adds, sounding just a bit more amused now. “Not too sure how you can have a picnic if you can’t see what you’re eating”

Panda sighs, and decides that he’s right. Slowly, he pops an eye open, and gasps so hard when he does that his other eye flies open involuntarily.

Charlie-

Charlie was  _right._ This is the single most beautiful view he’s ever seen. Both lakes, Charlie’s private one and the public one are visible from this height, and the sun ever so slowly starting to creep down from its noon high is causing the water to sparkle. He can see smears of evergreens and pines, and if he looks hard enough, the outline of San Francisco on the horizon. He turns his head, just the slightest, to get a peripheral from his seat, and he’s met with Charlie beaming so happily that his eyes are sparkling the same way the lake water is.

“You like it?” He asks, in that loud, excited voice he does when he’s really happy.

“Charlie, are you serious?” He asks. “I  _love it!_ This is beautiful!” He throws his arms around Charlie in a hug, and immediately notices two things.

The first is that he doesn’t need to use his paws to keep himself steady on the tree, and the second is the reason  _why_ he doesn’t need to use his paws to steady himself on the tree is because Charlie already  _had_ an arm going around Panda to keep him steady.

“G-golly, Panda!” He stutters, like  _he’s_ the one blushing. “You caught me by surprise there for a moment!” Charlie giggles, but takes no time to pause or reflect before he happily hugs Panda back. He lightly presses his head on top of Panda’s, just because he’s tall enough to reach, and it’s that gesture that makes Panda realize his feelings are far,  _far_ deeper than he realizes, because despite his crippling phobia of heights, he feels...  _safe_ in Charlie’s arms. He’s feeling that same rush of relief he felt when he saved Charlie from drowning in the toxic waste, paying no mind to all of the filth and grime around him, except this time there’s no immediate danger, and it makes Panda realize that it probably wasn’t just relief he was feeling that time too. Panda snuggles just a smidgen closer, hoping that Charlie doesn’t notice, but of course he does, because he adjusts when Panda does, very eager to be hugging for this long and also clearly trying to support Panda so he doesn’t fall off of the branch. If Charlie could just stay still like this for another moment, Panda wouldn’t even have to use  _words_ to tell Charlie how he feels. He could just kiss him, right here, right now.  _It’s the perfect moment,_ he hears Grizz say in his head, and he pulls away from Charlie, just a bit. Charlie looks over at him when he does, and all Panda can offer him is a bit of a dazed smile. Charlie smiles back at him, and there’s  _definitely_ a blush on Charlie’s face too, and that little blush is all it takes for Panda’s courage to fall off of the tree branch, so to speak.

“Do you...uhh...want to crack open the basket?” Panda offers instead, instantly hating himself for not  _going for it_ when the chance was right there. “My brother’s a great cook”

“Huh?” Charlie says, like he was equally lost in thought. “Oh, sure. Hand me one of those....soup cup things”

“It’s a thermos, Charlie” Panda says, as he hands one to him, and Charlie fiddles with the cover for a bit before popping it open.

“Right, right” he says, avoiding eye contact. “I knew that. You told me that a while ago” he takes a sip from the thermos, and slowly, like he’s not sure if he should anymore, he wraps his arm back around Panda for support. Panda awkwardly sips at his own soup thermos, but leans into the gesture, and Charlie relaxes once he knows that Panda wants him to do that.

The entirety of the picnic is spent with this heavy sort of tension in the air, but in a strange way Panda can’t say it’s an unwelcome one. Maybe the two of them aren’t talking as much as either want, but it’s also calming, and definitely a day to remember, watching the sun slowly sink down over the lake with Charlie’s arm around his shoulders.

By the time they finish, the entire sky is beginning to turn pink. “Well, it’s getting a little dark, isn’t it?” Charlie asks, awkwardly rubbing at his head. “You’re...not in any hurry to head back, are you?”

Panda blushes  _hard._ “Not at all” he says, and manages a smile, which Charlie matches with a smile that could outshine the setting sun. “As a matter of fact, why don’t you come back with me and stay the night? You haven’t in a while”

“R-really?” Charlie’s grin widens. “Even though I’m sort of messy? It wouldn’t inconvenience you?”

“What? Pshh, not at all! My brothers will probably love having you over”

“I’m touched, Pan-Pan” he touches a hand to his chest. “I’d love to, if you’re really sure it’s not an inconvenience”

“You?” Panda shakes his head. “Never. You’re always welcome”

“O-okay! Great!” Charlie grins, and without much of a warning Charlie once again scoops up the basket in one arm and Panda under the other and begins to climb down. Once on the ground, Charlie offers his hand to Panda, probably a subconscious gesture, since Panda knows the way back, and he giggles as he takes it.

Grizz and Ice are, of course, waiting for them to get back. “Oh, hey fellows, how are you? How’d that project thing go?” Charlie grins, waving at the two brothers with the hand that isn’t preoccupied with holding Panda’s.

“Huh?” Grizz glances over at Ice, who silently gestures to Panda and Charlie’s interlocked hand. “Oh! Right! Yeah, that went fine. She was done in a jiffy. Just needed a second opinion on a finished project is all.”

“I’m  _glad”_ Panda glares at Grizz, but then gestures his head towards Charlie. “On another note, Charlie’s gonna stay the night. He’s not in any trouble, or anything, but he just didn’t want to be left alone. Something something lonely something”

That makes Charlie laugh, which seems to make some lightbulb go off in his head. “Ah! Did you do it? Are you two-“

“Ice Bear wants to see engagement ring” Ice Bear interrupts, and Charlie lets go of Panda’s paw, scratching at his head.

“Engagement ring? What’s an-“

But Panda doesn’t hear the rest of the question, because he’s hurrying Grizz inside.

“Well?” Grizz asks, grinning from ear to ear. “Did you tell him? What did you say?”

Panda nudges Grizz towards the kitchen as Charlie follows Ice Bear inside.

“I couldn’t do it” he groans, and hides his face again. “But not for the reason you think”

“Aww, why not?”

Panda glances around to make sure that Charlie can’t hear him before he turns back to Grizz and whispers “we almost kissed”

Grizz’s jaw almost drops to the floor, but he also looks really, really happy for him.

“But I couldn’t do it because....” Panda blushes. “Because I started thinking about what you said earlier, about how he really likes me, and I think you’re right, and I-“ he flops down on a chair at the table. “I can’t do it. I’m not used to someone _really_ liking me back as much as Charlie does. I  _really really like_ him, but I think I’d need an extra...shove to say something, you know?”

“A shove, you say?” Grizz says, and smirks, and Panda immediately wishes he had the power to turn back time and prevent himself from saying that. “Hey, Charlie!” He shouts.

“Yeah?” Charlie asks, ducking to stand beside Panda.

“Will you follow me for a second? There’s something I want to show you” Grizz says, and grips onto Panda’s paw so he can’t escape.

“Sure, okay! Always happy to help out a friend” Charlie responds, and follows Grizz as he brings him over to the closet by the front door.

_Oh no._

_“_ Will you look for something in there for me? I’d look myself, but ah, I’m too short”

“Uh, sure thing!” Charlie ducks into the closet. “But you didn’t really tell me what you’re looking for-” he starts, but before he can finish Grizz shoves Panda at him and slams the door closed.

“Ugh, Grizz! This isn’t funny!”

“Yes it is!” Is Grizz’s only response. “And you’re not coming out until you  _find what you’re looking for”_ if there’s any indication that Grizz is winking at him right now, that statement was it.

“It’s no sweat, pumpkin” Charlie’s voice suddenly says behind him. “I know you’re not the biggest fan of closed spaces, so all we gotta do is find what Grizz lost and we’ll be out of here. Your phone has a flashlight, right? It’s pretty dark in here”

This is hopeless. They’re never getting out of here. Panda turns his phone’s flashlight on and hands it to Charlie and slides on the ground. 

“There, there” Charlie pats Panda’s head cheerfully. He rummages around what little space he has to rummage, looking for anything that looks like it’d been untouched in the past week. “We’ll be out of here before you know it. Keep any snacks in here? I lost my cheese poofies when Grizz shut the door on us”

He frowns, and Panda can’t help but giggle at how distraught Charlie is over dropping his cheese snack on the ground. “Blue jacket with a black stripe, in the pocket” Panda says. “There should be a baggie in there” 

“You’re a genius, Panda!” Charlie exclaims as he pulls the baggie of cheese poofies out. “How’d you know those were in there?”

Panda waves him off. “It’s my jacket. I was going to bring some to you when we were fixing your ca-uh, I mean home up before Hurricane Hal, and I guess I left my jacket at home”

Charlie beams again as he tears into the bag. “That’s awful sweet of you, Panda” he slides down to sit beside him on the closet floor, temporarily forgetting his search in favor of his snack. “You’re something special, you know that?”

“Oh, stop it” Panda mumbles, glad that it’s dark enough in the closet that Charlie can’t see him blushing. “You, uh, you too. You’re also special”

“You think so?” Charlie asks, turning to him. “Thank you! Means a lot hearing that from you”

Panda’s blush deepens, and he hears a tiny knock on the closet door, a symbol that Grizz is probably listening in on his conversation. He’s right. He should say it. He’s had the whole day and now here he is, being held hostage in his own home by his own brother because he’s too shy to say anything.

He takes a deep breath, and- 

Realizes he can’t breathe. He gasps for air, and gasps again when he can’t catch his breath, and again, and again, and he curses his asthma under his breath as he collapses to the floor. At least he was already sitting. 

“Oh my gosh, Pan-Pan!” Charlie tosses his baggie aside and kneels beside Panda. “Are you okay? What’s happening? Can I do anything to help?”

“A-asthma-” is all he can manage without the wind knocking itself out of him again. “Inhaler-” he manages before his heavy wheezing turns into coughs.

“Oh no, you’re not guilt tripping your way out of this one, Panda” Grizz says from the other side. “I know what you sound like when you’re faking to get out of something. I’m your brother”

“I-I’m no expert but I don’t think he’s faking anything” Charlie stutters as he helps Panda back into a sitting position.

There’s a pause. Even through his asthma attack Panda can see the cogs turning in Grizz’s head. Charlie doesn’t know about his plan. Charlie doesn’t know what asthma even  _is._

 _“_ Oh my gosh, Panda!” He says, and unlocks the closet door and flies it open. Before he can run to Panda’s aid, Charlie shoots past him, into the bathroom.

“Is it the thing that looks like a tiny instrument? It has Panda’s name on it in marker”

“Yes! That’s it!” Grizz says, but before he can hand it to Panda or help him to the couch Charlie dashes back  _into_ the closet and closes the door behind him. Panda grabs the inhaler and takes two deep breaths out of it. Once his breathing returns to normal, he turns to look at Charlie. “Thank you, Charlie. You’re a lifesaver”

“Any time, pumpkin” he grins, and sits back down on the floor beside him.

The-the floor

The closet floor.

_The door was open._

“Charlie! We could’ve gotten out of here! Now that my inhaler’s in here we could be trapped in here until tomorrow!”

“Really? We could’ve? But Grizz said he locked us in here because he lost something, and I didn’t want to disappoint him by-” he stands and begins to search again, but Panda cuts him off.

“No! Don’t you see? Grizz didn’t lose anything in here! He locked us in here so I’d have better concentration which isn’t working because you won’t stop moving!”

Charlie freezes before deciding to sit down beside Panda and hand him his phone back.

 

“Gosh, I feel silly. I’m sorry, Panda. What do you need to focus on so badly that you need to do it in a closet?”

“The closet has nothing to do with the-!” He snaps, but then he scrubs his hands down his face. “I needed I concentrate on how I’m going to tell you that I  _really like you, Charlie!”_ he snaps, and clasps his paws to his mouth, his face burning hotter than it ever burned in his entire life.

Outside the closet, there’s a muffled “ _Yesss!!”,_ and the sound of Grizz and Ice giving each other a high five. But Panda guesses that Grizz decided to “lock” the closet door by leaning against it, because as soon as he stops leaning it to celebrate with Ice Bear, the closet door flies open, and Panda and Charlie both yelp as they tumble out on top of each other. 

“Is that it? You like me?” Charlie stands to brush himself off and helps Panda do the same. “Aww, you could’ve told me that this morning. I like you too, buddy!” He grins, with the slightest blue-green blush on his face, which worsens Panda’s.

Panda takes Charlie’s hands in his own. “No, Charlie, I mean I  _like you_ like you. I’m in love with you. I want to go out with you, and all that. 

At first he thinks that Charlie didn’t hear him, because he’s just staring, but the first sign that he did hear him is that he’s tightening his grip on Panda’s paws. The second is that he’s breathing so hard that Panda’s worried that  _he’s_ the one having an asthma attack, but the third, those big, huge sparkling eyes, and that blush overtaking his whole face and that beaming smile outshining the now-set sun is what tells Panda he probably has nothing to worry about. 

“You…you really-? You....” he abandons Panda’s hands and turns straight to lifting him up instead. “You like me? You really really like me? Am I dreaming?” He beams, and Panda beams a smile to match his as he clings to Charlie in a tight hug.

“Yes, Charlie, I really like you”

“And-and that means we can go on more private walks, and dates, like, like we were doing today?”

Panda smiles. “Yes, Charlie”

“And-and I can sit next to you on the couch all I want, and-and we can snuggle?”

“Yes” 

“And your brothers? They-”

“Support you one hundred percent, bro!” Grizz answers that one for him, happily shouting from the couch.

“Hugging?”

“Yes.”

“Even-even kissing? You’re okay with kissing? Because I know how you are with personal space, and I don’t want to invade, and-“

Panda answers  _that question_  by cutting him off with a kiss. He wraps his arms around Charlie’s neck, and Charlie, shocked by the motion, moves his arms instead to carry Panda to prevent him from slipping out of his arms. After that moment of shock passes, Charlie kisses him back, and Panda can just feel the grin Charlie is fighting hard not to break into while they’re kissing.

“So is that your way of telling me you like me back?” Panda jokes, more to break the tension in the air than looking for an actual response.

“Of course I do, pumpkin! I’ve liked you forever! I’m honestly surprised neither of those two gave away how hard I’ve been crushing on you”

Panda wants to be mad at his brothers, but for now he’s just too happy to finally have someone who likes him back just as much as he does. He grins, and throws his arms around Charlie’s neck again, but this time just to hug him. Charlie’s grin returns, and he hugs Panda back just as tightly.

“Ice Bear will bake wedding cake for the happy couple”

“Ooh!” Charlie exclaims as he gently places Panda down on the ground. “A wedding cake? What’s that for?”

“He’s just joking” Panda says, playfully rolling his eyes in Charlie’s direction. “We’re not married, we’re just dating”

“Why? What does married mean? Can we be?” Charlie grins, and Panda blushes so hard that he chokes on air.

“Not-not yet, Charlie. Maybe-maybe later, okay? But I think dating is just fine for now”

Charlie shrugs, and bends down to smooch Panda on the top of his head. Panda grins. “Whatever makes my Pan-Pan happiest”

Panda grins. “It would” he smiles, and when he stands up on his tiptoes Charlie bends down so Panda can give him a quick smooch as well.

Ice Bear just stands there, watching the two of them.

“Ice Bear will still make wedding cake. For later”.


End file.
